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Daughter of the Empire by Raymond E. Feist and Janny Wurts
On a world of masks and maneuver, a young noblewoman must master ruthless politics to keep her house alive. Intrigue, honor, and razor-edged strategy collide in Daughter of the Empire, an epic of cunning where every move could be your last.
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In Daughter of the Empire, did you enjoy ...
... pitiless, numbers-and-nuance political intrigue to outmaneuver rival houses?
The Traitor Baru Cormorant by Seth Dickinson
If you loved how Mara turns trade liens, marriage alliances (like her calculated union with Buntokapi), and a razor-edged spy network under Arakasi into weapons against Tasaio and the Minwanabi, you’ll savor the cold, brilliant statecraft in The Traitor Baru Cormorant. Baru climbs inside an empire’s accounting and bureaucracy to topple enemies with ledgers and treaties the way Mara wields the Game of the Council—every negotiation a battlefield, every law a blade.
... clan hierarchies, titles, and the strategic climb through a codified power structure?
Jade City by Fonda Lee
Mara’s careful navigation of Tsurani ranks and honor—earning standing in the High Council while leveraging subordinates and sworn allies—echoes through the Green Bone clans of Jade City. If tracking who’s Pillar, Horn, and Weatherman thrills you the way House Acoma’s step-by-step consolidation of power does, you’ll be hooked as the Kaul family maneuvers through ritual, rank, and vendetta, turning formal roles and codes into decisive advantages.
... a young woman wielding wit and will to survive a deadly imperial court?
The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms by N. K. Jemisin
Like Mara seizing control of House Acoma and outthinking entrenched enemies in the Game of the Council, Yeine in The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms walks into the Sky palace and confronts a lethal court with nothing but courage, sharp instincts, and a refusal to be outplayed. If Mara’s steel in facing the Minwanabi and turning ritual constraint to her advantage spoke to you, Yeine’s gambits amid scheming nobles and captive gods will, too.
... richly textured imperial culture—etiquette, poetry, and protocol shaping every move?
A Memory Called Empire by Arkady Martine
If the Tsurani world’s honor codes, ritualized diplomacy, and the Council’s formalities drew you in—right down to how Mara must phrase each move within strict custom—you’ll relish the Teixcalaanli court in A Memory Called Empire. Ambassador Mahit navigates a culture where poetry and protocol are political weapons, much as Mara weighs ceremony and phrasing before striking at rivals. The pleasure is in the details of culture as strategy.
... interwoven arcs of spies, secretive magic, and fraught succession across an empire?
The Bone Shard Daughter by Andrea Stewart
House Acoma’s survival hinges on layered schemes—Arakasi’s informants, clandestine deals, and counters to assassins—all converging as Mara outflanks the Minwanabi. The Bone Shard Daughter delivers that same braided suspense: Lin’s palace intrigue, Jovis’s underworld pursuits, and competing claims to power collide as secrets about bone shard constructs surface. If you enjoyed how disparate plots in Daughter of the Empire snap together into checkmate, this will hit that sweet spot.
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